Renal failure patients who dialyze at home cost Medicare 11% less than those who seek treatment at a dialysis facility, according to a new study.
A research team at Baylor University’s College of Medicine analyzed Medicare beneficiaries starting dialysis between 2008 and 2015. They found patients who treated themselves at home using peritoneal dialysis cost about $91,716 compared to $108,656 for those who used hemodialysis at a facility.
Still, differences in total dialysis expenditures and intravenous dialysis drug use narrowed over time. Estimated intravenous drug costs declined by $2,900 per patient per year in hemodialysis between 2008 and 2014 versus $900 per patient per year in peritoneal dialysis. 108
“It was reassuring to see that Medicare cost savings from peritoneal dialysis persisted over time even as more patients were assigned to this modality,” study team leader Kevin Erickson, MD, said in a statement.
The researchers said the magnitude of cost savings from home dialysis could diminish over time as more patients with conditions such as diabetes and obesity require dialysis. Those patients tend to experience more complications associated with home peritoneal dialysis.
Home dialysis got a boost last year under the End Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choice Model which aims to cut Medicare costs for dialysis by $23 million over five years by moving more care into the home.
An estimated 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease; 800,000 have ESRD, requiring dialysis. Those patients are putting an increasing burden on Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. Matt Kazan, policy expert at healthcare consulting firm Avalere, recently estimated the number of ESRD patients in MA plans at 30% and growing. Those patients cost plans about 9 times more than other Medicare beneficiaries.
